Rail-joint



llbll'llil) STAI? AMON LESLE STEW'ART, OF PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS.

RAL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 25, 1921.

Application led August 15, 1918. Serial No, 250,039.

To all whom may conce/Mi.'

lle it known that l, Arion LnsLin f'rnw iur, a citizen of the United' States, residing at Port Arthur, in the county of Je Aerson and State of Texas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail- Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends generally improvements in that class of inventions known as railway rails andjoints and more particu larly has reference to an improved rail joint.

lt is the principal aim and object of the present invention to provide a device of the above mentioned character wherein the meeting ends of a pair of rail sections are designed for interlocking engagement while cooperating therewith is suitable fastening means for positively locking the parts against accidental displacement.

lt is a more specific object of this invention to provide a device of the above inentioned character wherein the meeting ends of the rail sections are designed to be locked in engagement with each other in such a manner as to permit of the expansion and contraction thereof and at the same time obviate knocking when rolling stock passes over the oint.

lt is an additional object of this'invention to provide a device of the above mentioned character which is simple in construction, thoroughly reliable and efficient in its purpose and inexpensive in manufacture.

Other objects will be in part in part hereinafter set forth.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, the combination of elements and the arrangement of parts which will be amplified in the construction hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claim.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved rail joint partly broken away and shown in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device. Y

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of one end of one of the rail sections, and

Fig l is a perspective detail of the adjacent end of another rail section obvious and Similar characters of reference are einployed in all of the above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now, more j iarticularly, to the accompanying drawings there is provided a pair of rail sections l and 2 the meeting ends of which are connected together by means of an improved joint generally indicated by the numeral 3 designed for holding the rail sections l and 2 in abutting relation and in alinement with yeach other.

ln reducing the present invention to practice the rail section l is provided with an enlarged web portion e while the head of the section l above the enlarged web is cut away leaving a shoulder 5. lThe web portion l is also provided with a pair of longitudi nally arranged and vertically extending rectangular openings 6 the upper and lower ends of which respectively open at the upper surface of the enlarged web portion a and the base of the rail section l, as clearly indicatcd. ln addition the web portion l is provided with spaced transverse bolt receiving openings 7 which intersect the openings 6. The adjacent end of the other rail section 2 has a head extension 8 projecting longitudinally therefrom, the edges of the web and base portions of the section constituting a shoulder 9. Depending from the under surface of the head extension and integral therewith is a pair of longitudinally spaced lugs l0 desirably rectangular in cross-section and of width slightly less than the width of the opening 6. rlhese lugs are provided with transversely arranged and substantially oval-shaped openings ll which are engaged by bolts l2 subsequent to the insertion of the lugs in the openings 6, the bolts i2, of course, being passed throughl the openings 7 preparatory to the engagement of the openings l1 while the threaded eX- tremities thereof are engaged by nuts 13 for the positive retaining of the rail sections l and 2 together. The oval openings l1 permit of the contraction and expansion of the rail sections. The free edge of the head eX- tension 8 abuts the shoulder 5 while the free edge of the base and web portion of the rail section l abuts the shoulder 9 at the time the lugs are engaged in the openings 6. lt is to be observed that the length of the lugs is substantially the same as the height of the openings 6 and the free edges of the 'Y limited sense.

.the invention which as a matter of lugs lie flush with the base of the rail section l When the parts are engaged in the manner described. inasmuch as the `head eXtensionS is supported on the enlarged `Web and lies in alinement and substantially Widely different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departing from the scope thereof it is intended that all matter contained in the. above description or shown in the accompanying drawings-shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a- It is alsoto be understcod thattlie language used in the following vclaim is intended to cover all the generic and specificV features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of might be said to fall therebetween.

language W hat I claim is: A rail joint comprising the meeting ends ot tivo rail sections, the one being formed the said thickened WebA portion having verticall y disposed rectangular openings formed therethrough and spaced from each other, the tread of said section terminating short of that opening the farther from the end of the section, the other section being formed with a head or tread extension resting on top of the enlarged .veb, the said head extension having depending from the under surface thereof a spaced pair of lugs of the same cross sectional outline as the said openings but of slightly reduced dimensions as respects the latter, the thickened Web portion being formed with transverse openings intersecting the vertical openings and the lugs being formed With oval shapedopenings Whose major axes are disposed in the direction of the length of the rails, the transverse openings in the enlarged Web portion and in the lugs being adapted for the Vreception of bolt-s to Vsecure the tivo parts of the joint together.V

In testimonyvivhereot I affix my signature.

anon `Lustre STEWART.

with an enlarged or thickened Web portion, 

